Mehta: From guiding Sam Darnold to always being ready, Jermaine Kearse's role with Jets knows no bounds

Maybe it was coincidence or maybe the locker-room organizers knew exactly what they were doing by placing Sam Darnold’s personal space right next to the most unassuming champion in the building.

Jermaine Kearse has been helping the Jets rookie quarterback every day since the Southern California kid arrived six months ago. The veteran wide receiver has given life lessons that aren’t lectures during this pivotal process of cultivating a special young talent. He is a friend, teammate and sounding board whenever the kid needs it.

Advertisement

He’s the type of person the Jets knew they needed when they went all-in for a quarterback in the draft.

“He was one of the first guys to really start talking to me… about this organization and even some of the stuff outside of football like what to do in the city or in Jersey,” Darnold said. “So, Jermaine and I have been really cool with each other since I first got here. I have always felt pretty comfortable with him.”

Kearse’s motives are pure, his intentions geared toward the greater good. When the ball seemingly went in every direction except his in the first month, he didn’t complain or pressure his 21-year-old neighbor to give him the damn ball. His advice has always been well-intentioned.

“It works for some people. Some people can do without it,” Kearse told the Daily News about developing an off-field rapport with his quarterback. “I’d much rather have a relationship… and at least know the person. Because it makes it that much more fun playing… rather than just being straight business. Having successful chemistry can play a role… but it’s mostly just reps and in-game experience.”

Jermaine Kearse. (David Richard / AP)

"Jermaine and I have been really cool with each other since I first got here."

Sam Darnold

Share quote & link

Look for Kearse’s role to grow with Quincy Enunwa out for at least a few weeks with a high ankle sprain and Terrelle Pryor nursing a groin injury in the run-up to Sunday's game against the Vikings. Kearse’s season-high in targets (10), receptions (9) and yards (94) last week won’t be an outlier.

“He is a great player,” Darnold said. “Jermaine is an awesome guy. As a player, he is really able to find the soft spots in the zone… Obviously, he has been in the league for a while, so he just has a really good feel out there. I feel like I can always count on him.”

Kearse is the epitome of a grinder, an undrafted free agent, who has earned everything in his seven-year career. He led the Jets in receptions after getting traded from Seattle just nine days before last season. He doubled his career averages in catches, yards, touchdowns and targets despite not having an offseason with the Jets.

The guy has skills.

He’s a Super Bowl champion and near Super Bowl hero (if not for an historically horrific play-call… and Malcolm Butler), who brings a hard hat and lunch pail to work every day. He’s more competitive than you know, but he’s not selfish.

“I know when I do have my opportunity, the most will be made out of it,” Kearse said. “I grew up in the league having to think that way. Being undrafted, it’s something that was ingrained in me. In those first couple years in Seattle, we were only throwing the ball like 21 times a game. So, you might not see your first target until like end of the third quarter. So, I’ve always trained myself to just very opportunistic and just be ready.”

Be ready.

A two-word mantra that guides him and makes him the person that the organization fell in love with last year. Kearse was basically a thrown-in in Gang Green’s deal that netted them a second-round pick for Sheldon Richardson. The Jets used that pick in a package to move up in the draft to land Darnold.

It turned out to be one hell of a thrown-in.

Kearse, however, appeared to be the odd man out this spring after the Jets signed Terrelle Pryor and welcomed back Enunwa from injury. Kearse’s abdomen injury kept him out of the season opener before he managed only seven receptions for 71 yards on 17 targets in his first four games.

Advertisement

Sam Darnold. (Rey Del Rio / Getty Images)

It would have been understandable for Kearse to be bitter or angry, especially since he’s scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

But it’s not in his DNA.

“I feel like if you start worrying about your touches, then when your time or opportunities come, you will not do well with them,” Kearse said. “It’s tough though. As a receiver, all of us struggle with (not getting touches) at some point. There’s only one ball on the field. And you feel strongly enough in your playmaking abilities, especially when I came (late) last year and was able to show it… So, I just had to dig in the archives of my mental state and just remember what got me here.”

Wide receivers coach Karl Dorrell’s message to his guys is blunt: It’s might be feast or famine. Not everyone can be a statistical star each Sunday. Nobody understands that more than Kearse.

“He hasn’t had a lot of opportunities… and then all of a sudden he has a lot of opportunities,” Dorrell said. “We expect him to play at a certain level each and every week… and he’s been doing that. Jermaine’s a professional. He expects to be a part of the big picture each and every week. He had a great game this last week. We hope it continues.”

The numbers will improve, but they won’t reveal Kearse’s importance. Just ask the guy in the locker next to him.